1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to circuit packs in systems such as shelf controllers and other circuit pack assemblies.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Any circuit pack in any system that contains data in memory (for example, software) may need to have the data in that memory upgraded at some point, either during development cycles or following deployment in the field. For example, software may need to be upgraded to fix bugs or to introduce new features. For this reason, some prior art systems with circuit packs are designed so that software can be upgraded without the need to replace any hardware components. This is done by using memory devices which can be erased and reprogrammed, for example, flash EPROM devices. These prior art systems, however, use external interfaces or support hardware which communicate with and upgrade the memory. Such external interfaces complicate the updating process and increase both the level of operator training required and the potential for errors. The updating of circuit packs must also occur one at a time. Others of these prior art systems use emulators which require that the circuit pack be extracted and that an emulator be used; or remote network devices, which require that the device be on a network and that the circuit pack contain logic to control the update process.